Learn | Photography Lighting with @millykr

What is photography lighting?

Photography lighting is the ways in which an area is lit to take optimal photographs. Often this can be in the form of studio lighting, but to the average person, it can encompass ways to maximise the usage of natural lighting, whilst controlling unnatural light sources to the best of their abilities.

Who is the expert?

Milly of @millykr. Milly is a blogger turned magazine editor, and an influencer in her own right. She is one of the Evening Standard's top 10 food influencers, and a co-founder of @weekendjournals, a beautiful Cornwall based travel book. Her Instagram photos are all beautifully lit; every single feature crystal clear (something any budding photographer knows is super hard to achieve), so I spoke to her for her top lighting tips.

What is their advice?

To capture my photos for instagram I nearly always try to use natural lighting - even if it's quite dark the picture is likely to be nicer if you turn the lights off. If you are in a restaurant sit near the window, or hold a napkin over a nearby spotlight to block out harsh shadows.

How can I do this?

Of course, perfect natural lighting isn't always available (and whilst putting a napkin over a spotlight may make for great photos, people in the restaurant might look at you funny). Whilst natural lighting is the key, you can also achieve the desired 'bright' look via editing apps. You can edit the brightness of an image directly on Instagram, or use a whole host of editing apps, such as Photshop, Lightroom, VSCO and AfterLight.

Milly says: I always edit my photos several times before putting them up on Instagram. Usually an initial edit on Instagram - turn airplane mode on to avoid putting up the photo before you are completely ready. Then I use the Snapseed App to edit the details, before posting the photo on Instagram.